This March, Virginia Sea Grant Director Troy Hartley was appointed to a
national committee that will evaluate the effectiveness of fisheries management.
Formed at the request of Congress by the National Research Council (NRC), the
Committee
on Evaluating the Effectiveness of Stock Rebuilding Plans will spend this
year learning about efforts to rebuild fish stocks around the U.S. and advise
Congress on best practices for future efforts.

Although being asked to participate on an NRC committee is an honor, Hartley
points out that the committee is a natural extension of Virginia Sea Grant’s
research and advisory roles in the Commonwealth.

“Sea Grant is recognized as a source of cutting edge science,” says Hartley.
“We also have our boots on the ground, working with communities to achieve their
environmental, economic, and community goals—we understand the human dimensions
of making management actions effective.”

To answer this question, 13 biologists, ecologists, mathematicians, and
social scientists will evaluate the progress of stock rebuilding measures. In
the end, the Committee will try to assess the biological, social, and economic
factors underlying the success or failure of stock rebuilding plans. Hartley’s
role on the NRC Committee is to focus on the socioeconomic factors.

This is where Hartley’s expertise comes in. Amongst a committee of
mathematicians, fisheries biologists, and ecologists, he is the only social
scientist who studies how human behaviors and relationships affect the success
or failure of policies. According to Hartley, understanding these human
dimensions is key to developing and implementing effective policy. After all, he
says, “Fisheries management regulates the behavior of people—not fish.”

The Committee
on Evaluating the Effectiveness of Stock Rebuilding Plans will meet at least
four times throughout 2012, in the Northeast, Northwest, and Gulf of Mexico.
Afterward, the Committee finalizes it report for Congress, NOAA, and other
fisheries stakeholders. The Committee was formed by the National Academies of
Science’s National Research Council, which has been convening scientists to
advise Congress, government agencies, industry, and others since 1916.